2022: NWO Veni: 'Finding the way in – Identifying entry and cargo release pathways of extracellular vesicles'

2021: Outstanding Oral Award (International Society for Extracellular Vesicles)

2020: Young Investigator Scholarship (International Society for Extracellular Vesicles)

2017: COST-Action Short-Term Scientific Mission grant (ERC)

Research focus

I am fascinated by how extracellular vesicles (EVs), minuscule membrane vesicles released by cells, transport RNA between cells. EV RNA-mediated communication contributes to pathophysiological processes, and EVs can be engineered to deliver therapeutic RNA into cells.

I want to uncover how EVs are taken up by, and fuse with cells to release their cargo. I recently received a NWO-Veni Grant to start unraveling this process.

PhD research

My interest in tiny particles and membrane fusion began while studying virus-like particles and viral fusion proteins as MSc student (Wageningen University) and as research technician in industry (Crucell NV, currently Janssen Vaccines, Leiden). In 2014, I started my PhD on EVs which, similar to viruses, functionally transfer RNA and proteins between cells. During my PhD, I studied how activation of immune cells affects the non-coding RNA content of EVs. I discovered that a highly abundant, but understudied EV-RNA, named Y-RNA, acts as a novel mediator of intercellular communication. In a follow-up study, I studied whether Y RNA in human plasma can be used as early inflammatory biomarker.

Postdoctoral research

Following my PhD, I studied therapeutic applications of EVs in the lab of dr. Kenneth Witwer at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Baltimore, USA). Here, I performed one of the first pharmacokinetics and biodistribution study of EVs in macaques. I identified that repeated administration leads to accelerated clearance of EVs, which is a roadblock for EV therapies, previously overlooked in mouse studies. Repeated administration elicited IgG antibodies directed against EVs in macaque plasma. Furthermore, I generated a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine by decorating bacterial membrane vesicles with recombinant viral antigens, which protected hamsters from viral challenge.

To further investigate how EVs recognize their target cells, I joined the lab of dr. Pieter Vader at UMC Utrecht. I am currently investigating how EVs find their target tissues/cell types, and how EVs enter cells. Answering these critical questions will bring EV-based therapies closer to reality.